Assembly polls: Inspection of EVMs begins

“We have received around 8,000 control units and 4,500 ballot units of EVMs. The first-level checking is going on and it will be completed in the next 10 days. They will check technical soundness of the machines,” Vrujlal Vaja,additional district collector and nodal officer in charge of EVM management,said on Friday.

After their checking is completed,EVMs will be sealed in strong-room to be set up on the premises of the supply depot,Vaja said. “We had convened a meeting of representatives of eight national political parties in this regard. Their representatives were present when the work of first-level checking started,” he said.

Sources said majority of the machines had been brought from Uttar Pradesh,where Assembly elections were held early this year,and a few from Tamil Nadu.

“We check if all the push buttons in the polling units are working. We also check and delete if any old data is found stored in control units,” said a BEL engineer engaged in the checking drive.

The BEL team had already completed their work in Bharuch district and would travel to other districts after winding up checking here,Vaja said.

Meanwhile,deputy election officer of Vadodara has appointed nodal officers for various poll related duties. District education officer has been assigned to manage manpower while district primary education officer has been given the responsibility of training for election officials.

Likewise,the road transport officer of Vadodara will be responsible for making arrangements for transportation of election machinery and additional resident collector will look into enforcement of model code of conduct after election notification is issued.